WWDC 2024 has come and gone, which appears to occur faster and faster annually, and in its wake are numerous movies to take a look at. There have been so many movies this yr, Apple began releasing them Monday night time after the Platform State of the Union, so that you knew it was going to be a packed week. It might be not possible to cowl all the brand new materials in a single article. Nonetheless, between the Keynote, the Platform State of the Union, and a few choose movies, listed here are some belongings you undoubtedly want to take a look at. These are in no explicit order, however all are must-watches in case you’re an Apple developer.
Swift
Swift 6 is the massive change this yr, though you possibly can fortunately undertake the brand new secure data-race security conformance at your individual tempo, module by module, due to compiler’s Swift 6 language mode choices. Along with utilizing Swift on embedded gadgets, improved C++ interoperability, and non-copyable varieties, two actually cool gadgets stood out.
Totally Static Linux SDK for Swift
Now you can cross-compile your apps for Swift on Linux and embrace the Swift libraries as a completely static part of your app. This implies the vacation spot doesn’t must have Swift put in. This may be nice for deploying issues like internet service apps over to a Linux system.
Typed Throws
Now you can used typed throws to get higher suggestions on precisely what error is caught. For instance:
enum MyError: Error {
misTyped, whatWasIThinking
}
func foo(string: String) throws(MyError) -> String {
//.....
throw MyError.misTyped(string)
}
do {
let response = attempt foo(string: "Good day world!")
} catch {
//the error right here is of kind "MyError" as a substitute of simply "Error"
}
For extra on Swift this yr, be sure you take a look at What’s new in Swift, and for extra on migrating your undertaking to Swift 6, take a look at Migrate your app to Swift 6
SwiftUI
SwiftUI bought a good variety of updates this yr, as ordinary. Listed here are among the issues that stood out.
View Is now on the @MainActor
You not must mark your views with @MainActor as a result of the View protocol now has that ornament. That’s one much less line of code to jot down!
The Magic Floating Tab Bar (or Is it a Sidebar?)
One thing that’s already getting a combined response is the brand new tab view fashion:
struct TabBarExample: View {
var physique: some View {
TabView {
Textual content("Tab 1")
.tabItem {
VStack {
Picture(systemName: "1.circle")
Textual content("Tab 1")
}
}
Textual content("Tab 2")
.tabItem {
VStack {
Picture(systemName: "2.circle")
Textual content("Tab 2")
}
}
Textual content("Tab 3")
.tabItem {
VStack {
Picture(systemName: "3.circle")
Textual content("Tab 3")
}
}
}
.tabViewStyle(.sidebarAdaptable)
}
}
This may end up in one in every of two photos, relying on whether or not you desire a floating tab bar on the high (assume visionOS) or a conventional sidebar (assume NavigationSplitView):
I haven’t had an opportunity to play loads with this one, however as with all paradigm-breaking issues, there’s often a little bit of disagreement in the neighborhood about it. We’ll see how this one shakes out!
New Modifiers for Presentation and Zooming
For views represented in a sheet, a brand new modifier helps you to specify web page, kind, or customized sizing:
.presentationSizing(.kind)
And to get a pleasant zoom in animation when bringing views to the foreground, a brand new pair of modifiers may help you:
.navigationTransition(.zoom(
sourceID: merchandise.id, in: namespace))
///....
.matchedTransitionSource(id: merchandise.id, in: namespace)
}
For extra on SwiftUI this yr, be sure you take a look at What’s new in SwiftUI.
SwiftData
SwiftData didn’t have an enormous replace this yr like some had been hoping, nevertheless it did get some very crucial updates to assist with efficiency and queries. This yr, Apple added the power to specify distinctive constraints with the #Distinctive macro and generally listed fields with Index. With just some traces of code, you possibly can add these options to an present @Mannequin:
import SwiftData
import Basis
@Mannequin
class KodecoArticle {
#Distinctive([.name, .dateWritten, .author])
#Index([.name], [.dateWritten], [.author], [.name, .dateWritten, .author])
var title: String = ""
var writer: String = ""
var content material: String = ""
var dateWritten: Date?
var dateUpdated: Date?
init(title: String, writer: String, content material: String, dateWritten: Date? = nil, dateUpdated: Date? = nil) {
self.title = title
self.writer = writer
self.content material = content material
self.dateWritten = dateWritten
self.dateUpdated = dateUpdated
}
}
The #Distinctive line states that entries are distinctive on that mixture of properties, and the #Index line lists which properties, or mixture of properties, are added as additional metadata to the mannequin so it could possibly carry out quicker queries.
Apple additionally unveiled different new options for SwiftData, resembling utilizing your individual customized knowledge retailer! For extra, take a look at What’s New in SwiftData.
Frameworks That Are All over the place
There have been two sturdy examples of frameworks that had been gaining parity and energy over many if not the entire platforms Apple gives. There’s loads to cowl right here, so right here they’re together with hyperlinks to the WWDC movies.
App Intents
Over the previous few years, App Intents has turn into a serious participant with regards to surfacing your app’s options; whether or not or not it’s to shortcuts, Siri, or widgets.
This yr, App Intents will get one other improve as a result of it’s the mechanism to hook your app into Apple Intelligence. For extra, be sure you take a look at What’s new in App Intents, Carry your app’s core options to customers with App Intents, and Carry your app to Siri.
RealityKit
Through the years, RealityKit hasn’t been very uniform throughout the platforms, making it laborious to deploy the identical app to completely different Apple {hardware}. That modifications this yr, as RealityKit has numerous new cross-platform APIs throughout all the assorted platforms — visionOS, macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. For extra, take a look at Uncover RealityKit APIs for iOS, macOS, and visionOS.
Swift Testing
Along with shifting the open supply Swift elements to the swiftlang group at GitHub, Apple has formally included Swift Testing in that household of libraries. Swift Testing is a brand new method of testing in Swift (however complementary to XCTest), introducing extra “Swifty” syntax to your check code. Right here’s a fast instance:
import Testing
struct WWDCTests {
@Check func testExample() async throws {
let worth = 2
#count on(worth + worth == 3)
let value2: Int? = nil
_ = attempt #require(value2)
}
}
After importing the Testing framework, you embellish your assessments with the @Check attribute. This implies you not want to call your check strategies so they begin with “check”. I’ve added just a few issues to check. The primary makes use of the #count on macro, which replaces the household of XCTAssert calls and checks to see whether or not the situation inside is true. The following code block checks that value2 is just not nil earlier than continuing by utilizing the #require macro. See what Xcode says when the check button is clicked:
In the precise gutter, you see indications that the expectations failed. For the primary one, in case you hover over the error, a “Present” button seems which you can click on to get extra particulars, as proven within the screenshot. This allows you to dive into why precisely the examined code failed.
This appears to be loads cleaner than XCTest (though you should utilize each in your assessments!), and I can’t wait to start out utilizing it. For extra about Swift Testing, take a look at Meet Swift Testing.
